First batch of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims return to India, feted by Sikkim

The Hindu

14 hours ago

The Sikkim government on Tuesday (July 1, 2025) feted the first batch of 39 people who returned from their pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in China's Tibet.
Each pilgrim was presented with a khada, a traditional ceremonial scarf, and a certificate of participation in the 22-day trip by the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) and the State Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
Certificates of participation were also presented to two liaison officers and a medical officer who accompanied the 33 pilgrims from Gangtok to the Kailash Mansarovar stretch of the journey.
'For many, it remains a dream to make it to Kailash Mansarovar, one of the holiest pilgrimages for Indians. Your successful journey will be an inspiration for others to undergo the once-in-a-lifetime experience,' said C.S. Rao, Sikkim's Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Tourism and Civil Aviation Department, after giving away the certificates.
Rajendra Chhetri, Chief Executive Officer of the STDC, said the Minister of External Affairs chose the corporation as the nodal agency to manage the Indian leg of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in 2015.
'We managed the yatra for five years till 2019, but it was paused after the COVID-19 pandemic and border tensions with China. We had to hurriedly manage two acclimatisation centres — one at 17th Mile at an altitude of 11,000 ft and the other at Sherathang (13,500 ft) — after we received confirmation in February-end that the yatra would be resumed,' he told The Hindu.
'The return of the first batch with all members in high spirits is encouraging, but it will be a job well done only after the tenth batch completes the yatra successfully in August,' he said.
The first batch of pilgrims, aged between 19 and 69, is scheduled to depart Sikkim on Wednesday and fly to Delhi via Bagdogra Airport in West Bengal. The buses that will drop them at Baghdogra will pick up the fourth batch of tourists.
One of the tourists, Mumbai-based Pranav Gupta, narrated his experience. 'The feeling of having been at the abode of Lord Shiva is indescribable, but as the first batch of Indian tourists, we had the responsibility on our shoulders — to set the tone with the right attitude and behaviour in a foreign land,' he said.